CHARLES 



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Av-v-.rviv 1 n i 



il 



A Rhode Island Pioneer, 1677 



By THOMAS HAMILTON MURRAY, 

Sccf ctar y ssGcner al Amcr ican*If ish Historical Society ; Author 
of Papers on ''Some Patricks of the Revolution,'' '*The Irish 
Chapter in the History of Brown University," ''Rambles in 
Rhode Island's South County," "The Irish Soldiers in King 
Philip's War," "The Libraries of Boston," "The Old School- 
Masters of Boston," "Reminiscences of Life Along Narra* 
gansett's Shores," etc. ^ < ^ ^ < < 



I 




Reprinted from the RoSJtRV MMC^IME of Nov., I90I, 

SOMERSET, OHIO. 





m 



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CHARLES MacCARTHY, A RHODE ISLAND PIONEER. 

Thomas Hamilton Murray. 

RISH settlers are found in Rhode Island at a very early 
period. They were contemporaneous with Roger Will- 
iams, John Clark, William Coddington and other lead- 
ing men and proved sturdy, energetic members of the 
community. 

Some of these Irish pioneers doubtless came to 
Rhode Island as soldiers in the Indian wars, and when 
the latter were over "remained and went not away." 
Others in all probability, came as settlers from St. Kitts, 
Jamaica, Montserrat and Barbadoes. During Cromwell's atrocious 
regime in Ireland thousands(i) of Irish were transported not only 
to the continent of North America but also to the West Indies. 
Other thousands followed them, forced from home by the iniquitous 
English policy of extermination. 

It is not at all unlikely that Rhode Island received many of 
these hardy refugees and became to them a land of asylum and .'i 
permanent home. Nor can it reasonably be doubted that Con- 
necticut, Plymouth and "the Bay" likewise contributed Irish settlers 
to Rhode Island at early periods and in goodly numbers. In Win- 
throp's Journal, under date of 1635, is an entry indicating that even 
as early as that a considerable immigration from Ireland to New 
England was under way. Thus readeth the entry : 

"Another providence was in the voyage of Mr. Winthrop, the 
younger, and Mr. Wilson into England, who, returning in the win- 
ter time,* in a small and weak ship, bound for Barnstaple, were driven 
by foul weather upon the coast of Ireland, not known by any in the 



I See Prendergast's Cromwellian Settlement of Ireland, (London, 1865); 
Thebaud's Irish Race in the Past and the Present, (New York, 1883); 
McGee's Irish Settlers in North America, (Bostoii, 1851 and 1855); Con- 
don's Irish Race in America; McGee's Catholic History of North Amer- 
ica, (Boston, 1855); Cullen's Story of the Irish iij Boston, (Boston, 18^); 
Walpole's History of Ireland, (London, 1882)1 Lingard's History of 
England; Morison's Threnodia Hiberno-Cathouca, ('Innsbruck, 1659); 
Haverty's and other histories of Ireland. ( 



1 



2 A RHODF. ISLAND PIONEER. 

ship, and were brought, through many desperate dangers, into 
Gallovvay(2) [Gahvay] where they parted, Mr. Winthrop taking his 
journey over land to Dubhn. and Mr. Wilson by sea. His ship was 
forced back by tempest to Kinsale. Mr. Wilson being in Ireland, 
gaye much satisfaction to the Christians there about New England. 
Mr. Winthrop went to Dublin, and from thence to Antrim in the 
North and came to the house of Sir John Clotworthy, the evening 
before the day when divers godly persons were appointed to meet at 
his house, to confer about their voyage to New England, by whom 
they were thoroughly informed of all things and received great 
encouragement to proceed on their intended course." 

Sometimes immigrants from Ireland were welcomed(3) to New 
England and at other times the contrary was the case. In the 
records of Massachusetts, 1652, we find that one David Sellick hav- 
ing craved pardon "for his offence in bringing some of the Irish 
men on shoare, hath his fine remitted, so as the first optunite be 
taken to send them out of this jurisdiction." But where could they 
be sent? Only to some place where they would be likely to get a 
better reception. In this connection, Rhode Island, the refuge(4) 
of so many oppressed by "the Bay," would naturally suggest itself, 
at least to a portion of the Irish immigrants thus proceeded against. 
The writer inclines to the belief that numbers of these Irish, being 
refused permission to reside elsewhere in New England, finally 
located in Rhode Island. 

Charles Macarte (MacCarthy), the pioneer to whom this paper 
is specially devoted, was a resident of Rhode Island in 1677. When 
he came to the polony is unknown. He resided on the island of St. 
Christopher, otherwise known as St. Kitts, before arriving in Rhode 
Island, a fact mentioned in his will(5). Some of the recordinj^ 



2 Evidently not Galloway in Scotland. 

3 Under date of Sept. 25, 1634, the Massachusetts records have this 
entry: "It is ordered that the Scottishe and Irishe gentlemen wch intends 
to come hither shall have liberty to sitt down in any place V'pp Merimaclce 
Ryver, not possessed by any." In the Massachusetts Records (vol. i, 
p. 295), under date of 1640, is another interesting entry, to-wit: "It is 
ordered that the goods of the persons come from Ireland shallbee free 
from this rate [tax]." And a marginal heading reads: "Irish goods no«v 
land free from ye rat[e]." 

4 Maryland and Rhod > Island early enacted legislation providing for 
liberty of conscience, Maryland leading the way. 

5 The greater part of the will was reproduced in the Narragansett His- 
torical Register, James N. Arnold, editor, Providence, April, 1891. It was 



A I. It h or. 



A RHODE ISLAND PIONEER. 3 

clerks of those days were not particularly brilliant in writing proper 
names, Irish or otherwise. They appear to have, in a way, adopted 
the phonetic idea of spelling, that is according to sound.. But it 
frequently happened that some names sounded differently to differ- 
ent clerks and thus, as in the case of Charles MacCarthy, we have 
a variety of spelling.(6) At the same time it should be said, in jus- 
tice to the clerks, that there were instances, no doubt, when they 
should not be held responsible for variations that appear. Orthog- 
raphy was not fixed then as now. 

The Rhode Island pioneer of whom we are treating has had 
his name rendered as Macarte, Macarta, Macarty, Mackarte and 
Mccarty. In his will it is "Macarte," but whether that was the form 
authorized by him, or whether it was the work of the clerk who 
drew up the will, cannot now be determined. The same name 
applied to other early Rhode Island people is also recorded as Mac- 
cartee and McCartie. The style "Mac Carthy" used, for the sake of 
uniformity, in the caption of this paper, and in the text, is that com- 
mon(7) to the MacCarthys Mor, the MacCarthys Reagh, the Mac- 
Carthys Glas and other grand divisions of this great Irish clan. 

Charles, the Rhode Island settler, had a brother who went from 
Ireland to Spain. This brother had been exiled and may have been 
among the Irish troops who, in 1652, after surrendering to Crom- 
well and Ireton, were allowed to depart and enlist in the Spanish(8; 

probably copied from the East Greenwich probate records. The origina' 
draft of the will is not known to be now in existence. 

6 This applied not only to Irish names, but to English, Scottish and 
jDthers as well. 

7 MacCarty was likewise a common form of the name. It also fre- 
quently appears in Ireland as Carty, and Carthy, without the Mac. 

8 Many persons of Irish birth or extraction became distinguished in 
the armies of France and Spain. Among those in the French service were: 
Justin MacCarthy, (Lord Mountcashel), Colonel Proprietor, 1691, regi- 
ment de Mountcashel; Owen MacCarthy, Lieut. Colonel, 1715, regiment 
de Athlone; Daniel O'Brien, (Viscount Clare), Knight of the Orders of 
St. Louis and St. Lazarus, Colonel Proprietor, 1690, regiment de Clare; 
Arthur Dillon, Colonel Proprietor, 1690, regiment de Dillon; Gordon 
O'Neill, Colonel Proprietor, 1692, regiment «le Charlemont; Charles 
O'Brien, (sixth Lord Clare), Colonel Proprietor, became a marshal of 
France;' Dominic Sarsfield, (Lord Kilmallock),/Colonel Proprietor, 1693, 
Kilmallock's Dragoons; Jeremial^Mahony, Lie it. Colonel, 1694, regiment 
de Limerick; John O'Donohoe, Lieutenant, i6b. Garde du Corps; Pat- 
rick Nugent,' Lieut. Colonel, 1706, regiment delBerwick; Daniel O'Mad- 
den Lieut. Colonel, 1703, regiment de Fitzderald; Jacques Francois 



4 A RHODK ISLAND PION^EER. 

service. These troops embarked for Spain at Kinsale, Waterford, 
Galvvay, Limerick and Bantry. With them also went many of the 
Irish nobihty and gentry who had been ruthlessly dispossessed of 
their estates. In more propitious times some of these exiles 
returned from Spain. Charles's brother did so and from Kinsale 
wrote to Charles whom he sui)posed to be still in St. Christopher, 
urging him to return to Ireland. But Charles had, in the meantime, 
left. St. Christopher and was probably then in Rhode Island. 
Though long delayed, the letter finally reached its destination, but 
Charles never went back nor, it is believed, did he antl his brother 
ever meet again. 

In 1677, Charles was one of a party of 48 settlers to whom 
a grant of 5,000 acres, to be called East Greenwich, (q) was made 
by the General Assembly of Rhode Island. The grant was awarded 
largely for services rendered during King Philip's war, (1675-76). 
This would seem to indicate that Charles MacCarthy had been a 
participant in that war and it is quite within the bounds of proba- 
bility that he had seen military service, too, in the Old Land. At 
a session of the General Assembly held at Newport, R. I., May, 
1677, it was 

Ordered that a certain tract of land in some convenient place 
in the Narragansett country, shall be laid forth into one hundred 
acre shares, with the house lots, for the accommodation of so many 
of the inhabitants of this Colony as stand in need of land, and the 
General Assembly shall judge fit to be supplied. 

Edward Sarsfield, (Earl of Lucan), Colonel, 1715, and Knight of the Golden 
Fleece; Arthur Lally, Knight Grand Cross of St. Louis, Lieut. General, 
1746; Maurice MacMahon, Knight of Malta, Captain, 1761, Fitzjames' 
Horse; Count Patrick Darcy, Knight of St. Louis and of St. Lazarus, 
Colonel, Major General, died 1779. In our own day MacMahon, of Irish 
blood, became President of France. 

Irish names met in the Spanish service include: Don Florencio 
Macarthy, Cornet, 1705, Dragones de Dublin; Don Felix Macarthy, Cap- 
tain, 1718, regimento de Limerick; Don Justinio Macarthy, Sub-Lieuten- 
ant, 1718, regimento de Hibernia; Don Carlos Macarthy, Lieutenant, 1724, 
regimento de Hibernia; E>on Carlos MacMahon, Captain, 1718, regimento 
de Ultonia; Don Juan O'Sullivan, Captain, 1724; Don Dionisio O'Sullivan, 
Captain, 1724; Don Deir.etrio Mahony, Lieut. Colonel, 1735; Don Cor- 
nelio MacMahon, Captain, 1771, regimento de Hibernia; Don Miguel 
O'Reilly, Captain of Gr.?nadiers, 1777; Don Josef O'Donnell, Lieut. 
Colonel, 1777; Don Hugo O'Connor, Captain of Grenadiers, 1777; Don 
Pedro O'Daly, Commander and Colonel, 1803, regimento de Irlanda. 

9 Records of the General Assembly. Arnold's Vital Record of Rhode 
Island. Greene's History of East Greenwich. 



A RHODE ISLAXD PIONEER. 5 

It was likewise enacted that the said tract be laid forth to con- 
tain 5,000 acres. Of this, 500 were to be laid in some place near 
the sea, as convenient as may be for a town, which said 500 acres 
shall be divided into 50 house lots and the remainder of the 5,000, 
being 4,500, shall be divided into 50 equal shares or great divisions. 

It was further decreed that the persons to whom the grant was 
made have the rights, liberties and privileges of a town ; also that 
they, or so many of them as shall be then present, not being fewer 
than twelve, on the said land, [are] required and empowered to meet 
together upon the "second Wednesday in April next" and constitute 
a town meeting, by electing a Moderator and a Town Clerk, with 
such constables as to them shall seem requisite ; and also to choose 
two persons their Deputies to sit in General Assembly, and two per- 
sons, one to serve on the Grand Jury, and one on the Jury of Trials 
in the General Court of Trials. 

Thus was launched the town of East Greenwich. The found- 
ers, no doubt, included "men from all parts" and if names may be 
taken as a criterion several of them, in addition to Charles Mac- 
Carthy, were from Ireland. The date of the incorporation of the 
town was Oct. 31, 1677, the year following the close of King Philip's 
war and the overthrow of the Narragansetts. Later, the boundaries 
of the town were enlarged by addition of 35,000 acres on the west- 
ern border. Facing a great bay, it was hoped by the founders that 
the town might in time equal or surpass Newport or Providence. 
In 1 741, the town was divided and the western part incorporated 
as West Greenwich. Both towns exist to-day. East Greenwich with 
a population of about 3,000 and West Greenwich with a population 
of between 600 and 700. 

The most thickly settled part of East Greenwich is built mainly 
on a hillside and fronts a safe and spacious harbor. The town is a 
favorite summer resort. Some of the early settlers engaged in ship- 
building, and when the town was laid out two locations were set 
apart for shipyards. The persons named as incorporators of East 
Greenwich, including Charles MacCarthy, were each required to 
build within a year, on his lot, a house suitaible for habitation, under 
pain of forfeiture. It was also required that highways be provided 
"from the bay up into the country" convenient for settlement. In 
addition to IVlacCarthy, the founders included Philip Long,(io) 



10 Long, — a frequent name among people of Irish blood. It is derived 
from O'Longain, from whence we have O'Lomx- 



6 A RHODE ISLAND PIONEER. 

Thomas Dungin(ii) and Jolin Strainge(r2) — all three names typ- 
ically Irish. Among the proprietors in 1700 was Anthony Long. 
About 1732, the town possessed stocks and whipping post, pillory, 
irons for mutilating ears, branding faces, cropping, etc., and sim- 
ilar appliances rife at that period. 

The records of the "General Assembly held at Newport, the 6th 
of May 1679" show that "Charles Mecarte" and two others "being 
freemen of the towne of East Greenwich, are admitted freemen of 
the Collony." It does not appear that Charles ever married, at 
least the writer has met no record to that effect. Neither wife nor 
child arc mentioned in the copy of the will extant. It is, of course, 
possible that he may have had both wife and children in the Old 
■Land and that he survived them, but of that nothing definite is 
known. His will is dated "the i8th day of February, 1682" and was 
witnessed by John Knight and Thomas Fry, Jr. It was the first 
will to be recorded in the probate record book of East Greenwich 
where it was entered by "John Spenser, Town Clark." Written 
over 200 years ago, its quaint phraseology is a source of much inter- 
est at the present time. The will thus begins : 

Unto all christian people unto whome these pents [presents] may 
com know yee that I Cliarles Macarte now of the towne of Est grenwich 
in the Colony of Rhod Island and providance planteteons Being in parfact 
memory but weake in body doe meakc this my lastt will and testiment. 

First, he requests that all his debts be paid. Then he makes 
John Spenser, Jr., his lawful heir and bequeaths him "my house 
and Land or Lands in this Towne." He designate John Spenser, 
Sr., "father to the aforesaid Spenser, Guardian to his sonn to teak 
cere that my will be parformed." 

One Pasco Whitford owed Charles a debt. This debt the latter 
cancels and, in addition gives Whitford "halfe the sheepe of mine 
in his keeping." The other half he gives to Edward Carter, to 
whom he likewise bequeaths his arms, i. c. two guns and a sword 
and also his chest "with the lock and cea." To Charles Heseltun, 

11 Dungin, — another name of Irish origin whatever its Rhode Island 
bearer may have been. It derives from O'Donnegan, and MacDonnagain, 
anglicized Donegan, Dunnegan, Dongan, Dungan, etc. O'Donnegans were 
chiefs of "Muskry of the Three Plains" in Cork. MacDonnagains were 
chiefs in Limerick. Walter, Lord Dungan, (Irish), was prothonotary of the 
Exchequer in Ireland in loSg. Thomas Dongan, an Irish Roman Catholic, 
became governor of the province of New York, 1683, and rendered a wise 
and just administration. 

12 Strange is a well-knciwn name in Ireland. 



A RHODE ISLAND PIONEER. 7 

Jr., he bequeaths a young horse "that will be two yere old next 
Spring branded with IS on the shoulder." To John Andrew is given 
^'my biggest yron poot" [pot] and four narrow axes. His pewter 
"he bequeaths Susanna Spencer, the same to be delivered to her when 
she is of age. All his carpenter and joiner tools are given by tes- 
tator to William Spencer(i3) "which shall be resarved for him till 
hee i^ capable unto mak youse of them," or of age. After disposing 
of certain clothing and household goods to Susanna Spencer, Sr., 
he mentions "One piece of brod cloth that I had to make mee a 
wascoat" ; this he gives to his heir. Unto Hannah Long,(i4) the 
younger, is given "one heffer of three yere" old, to be delivered 
her at his decease, and to "John Garard(i5) a poor Country man 
of mine" he gives "three bushels of corne to be paid him presently 
after my desese." But one of the most striking passages of the 
entire will is the following: 

I have a letter that came from my Brother from Kingsile(i6) 
[Kinsale] after his return from Spaine Being fersed from home in the 
war in which Letter he sent for mee home; but the troubles in Cristifars 
at that time fersed me from thence to New England and soe hee 
Tierd not of mee nor I of him. * * * j i^[\i that that letter with another 
[which] within it is, be sent unto him with a letter to signifie unto him 
how it hath been with mee since and when and where I end my dayes. 

Charles then provides that Richard Dunn(i7) of Newport, R. 
I., be added unto John Spenser, Sr., the first mentioned guardian, 
to carry out the provisions of the will, and "if aither of these soo 
Before men'oned betrusted should die before that my haire is of 
•edge [age] ; then he that doth survive shall heve power; and my 
will is that hee chuse one to him it being one that my haire doth 
approve of." The will goes on to say that "My ould mere [mare] 
I give to Samuel Bennet and hir foule [foal] or my young mere I 
•give unto Mychell Spenser * * * and the rest of my Chatle 
-Goodes and catten [cattle] I give unto John Spenser Senior and all 

13 This name appears to have been spelled both Spenser and Spencer. 

14 Probably the daughter of Philip and Hannah Long; Philip, who was 
one of MacCarthy's associates in the founding Qf the town. 

15 The names Gerard and Gerrard are foun(il in Ireland. This name 
Garard, mentioned by MacCarthy, however, may have been Garratt or 
Garrett, and therefore derived from Garritty or MacGeraghty. 

16 This was also at one time written "Kingsa|e." It is in the County 
of Cork. 

17 Dunn, — a typical Irish name; from the IriJh O'Duin, and anglicized 
O'Dunn, Dun, Dunn, Dunne and Doyne. The s^pt was prominent, in the 
olden time, in Kildare and Queen's. 



8 A RHODK ISLAND PIONEER. 

the deapts dowe to mee * * * /i^g Concaning [concerning] the 
Land that I Give nnto my haire and the house my will is that the 
land and house [be] unto him and his lawful haires for-ever * * * 
and for the Conformation of this my will and that it may apere unto 
all parsons [persons] unto whome it may come I have sett to my 
hand and scale this psent i8th day of February 1682." Charles died 
soon after, his will being entered in the town records in 1683-4. 

The orthography of Charles MacCarthy's will must not be 
severely criticised. It was as correct as that found in the average 
document of the period in which he lived. Whether it was wTitten 
by Charles or by someone acting for him, due allowance must be 
made for the times and conditions and for the fact that educational 
facilities were very meagre then as compared with those available 
at the present day. 

It is a source of deep regret that so little is known about this 
Rhode Island pioneer. That he was a man of sturdy character, 
cannot be questioned. That he was worthy to rank as a founder 
of a town or a state must also be admitted. He plainly possessed 
traits and qualities entitling him to a place in the front rank of 
Rhode Island settlers. 

And here we may indulge briefly in a retrospective glance at 
the status of the MacCarthys(i8) in the land of Erin. For from 
these, unquestionably, the Rhode Island pioneer was descended. 
Then, we will touch upon certain "troubles in Cristifars" which may 
have been the same as those to which Charles MacCarthy alludes 
,as having forced him to New England. 



18 For interesting mention of the MacCarthys, see Burke's Dormant, 
Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages, (London, 1866); O'Hart's Irish 
Pedigrees, (Dublin, 1881); Burke's Vicissitudes of Families, (London, 
1859-60); Lodge's Peerage of Ireland, (Dublin, 1789); Burke's Landed 
Gentry, (London, 1871); Burke's General Armory, ('London, 1884); Wash- 
bourne's Book of Family Crests, (London, 1882); the Royal Book of 
Crests, London, (Macveigh); O'Hart's Irish Landed Gentry, (Dublin, 
1877); Howard's Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica; Nichols' Topog- 
rapher and Genealogist (London, 1853); the Complete Peerage (edited by 
G. E. C), (London, 1893); the Book of Dignities (London, 1894); 
Cusack's History of the jZity and County of Cork, (Dublin and Cork, 1875); 
Prendergast's Ireland fr(f)m the Restoration to the Revolution (1660 to 1690), 
(London, 1887); Amory's Transfer of Erin, (Philadelphia, 1877): John 
O'Kane Murray's Prose and Poetry of Ireland, (New York, 1882); Doug- 
las Hyde's Literary History of Ireland, (London, 1899); A Historical 
Pedigree of the McCartlilys ,by D. McCarthy, (Exeter, Eng., 1880); Low- 
er's Patronymica Britani[iica, (London, 1S60). 



A RHODE ISLAND PIONEER. 

Burke, Ulster King- of Arms, the great authority on the British 
and Irish peerages, declares that "Few pedigrees in the British 
empire can be traced to a more remote or exalted source than that of 
the Celtic house of M'Carty." The learned Dr. O'Brien says that 
it was "the most illustrious of all those families whose names begin 
with Mac." It has also truthfully been declared that "The Mac- 
Carthys may proudly defy any other family in Europe to compete 
with them in antiquity, or accurate preservation of the records of 
their descent." Their patrimony was chiefly in Cork and Kerry 
where they had strongholds for many centuries. They built over 
twenty castles there, many of them overlooking "the pleasant Ban- 
don, crowned with many a wood." These castles were massively 
constructed, the towers and battlements being equal in grandeur 
and strength to those elsewhere in Europe. For generation after 
generation they defied the attacks of time and the elements and 
proudly reared aloft their stately walls. The ruins of some of them 
still remain, crowned with ivy, and frequented by appreciative tour- 
ists. The MacCarthys have been Princes of Carberry, Earls of 
Clancarty(i9), Earls of Muskerry, Earls of Mountcashel, Viscounts 
of Valentia and have also held other titles. Their history has been 
replete with chivalrous deeds, brave men, handsome women, noted 
clerics, generous benefactors, whole-souled hospitality. 

The MacCarthys were the dominant family in Desmond, (20) 
(South Munster), at the period of the Anglo-Norman invasion. 
The MacCarthy Mor, lord of the elder branch, was generally inau- 
gurated in Kerry. The O'Sullivan Mor(2i) and the O'Donoghoe 
Mor (22) presided at the ceremony. The hereditary judges of the 
MacCarthy Mor were the MacEgans ; his captains of war, the 
O'Rourkes ; and his poets and antiquaries, the O'Dalys and 



19 Clancarty, from Clan Carty; the latter derives from Cartach or Car- 
tagh, progenitor of the family. 

20 Desmond, or South Munster, comprised the whole of Cork and the 
greater part of Kerry, together with a part of Waterford and South Tip- 
perary. North Munster constituted the territWy known as Thomond. 

21 O'Sullivan Mor, Lord of Dunkerron. (p'Sullivan Beara, Lord of 
Beara. Some of the O'SuUivans went to Spaki, and were styled Counts 
of Bearhaven. Gen. John Sullivan of the Amenican Revolution, and Hon. 
James Sullivan, Governor of Massachusetts, Avere descended from this 
Irish clan. 

22 Chiefs of the O'Donoghoes were Princed of Lough Lein, and Lords 
of Glenfesk. The first bearer of the surname \lied A. D. 1057. 



10 A RHODE ISLAND PIONEER. 

O'Quinns. His feudatories also included the 0'Donovans(23) and 
O'Hurleys. Charles who died in 1770, was styled "the last Mac- 
Carthy Mor." The arms of the family are thus described : "Arg. a 
stag trippant, attired and unguled or." One branch of the family, 
had as it motto : "Forti et fideli nihil difficile," and another : "Ex 
arduis perpetuum nomen." The motto of the MacCarthy Reagh 
was : "Fortis, ferox et celer." "The MacCarthys were a regal and 
princely house," observes Burke, and he states that at one period 
the head of the clan could muster 3,000 men-at-arms. The Mac- 
Carthys Reagh constituted the second sept of the clan in point of 
importance, while the MacCarthys Glas were also a strong branch 
of the family. 

Dermot MacCarthy, feudal lord and founder of the house of 
Muskerry, was killed in 1367. Cormac MacCarthy, slain in 1494, 
had been lord of Muskerry for 40 years. Donogh MacCarthy Mor 
was, in 1556, created Earl of Clancare, (Clancarty), and Viscount 
Valentia. Cormac Oge MacCarthy became a Viscount in 1628, 
There was a Callachan MacCarthy who married Elizabeth Fitzger- 
ald, daughter of the Earl of Kildare, and died in 1676. A Charles 
MacCarthy, born about 1721, was a solicitor, seneschal of the manor 
of Macroom, recorder of Clonakilty and clerk of the Crown for the 
County of Cork. A Donoch(24) MacCarthy, lord viscount Mus- 
kerry was an Irish officer exiled to the continent in 1641-42. He 
had commanded the King's forces in Munster against Cromwell. 
At the restoration of Charles H. Donoch returned to Ireland and 
contested the right of Florence and Charles MacCarthy to the title 
and dignity of "MacCarthy Mor." He was created Earl Clancarty, 
and died in 1665. 

It is to be regretted that we do not know the name of the 
brother of Charles MacCarthy,(25) the Rhode Island settler — the 



23 The O'Donovans have been Lords of Clancahill. In 1607 an Iquisition 
taken at Cork mentions "The manor of Castell O'Donyvane, containing 
twenty and one ploughlands." The principal castle of the O'Donovans 
at one time, was situated in the County of Limerick. "Daniel! O'Dono- 
vane, Gent.", was one of the Papist Forfeiting Proprietors under Crom- 
well. He was of the Baro.iy of Courcey, in Cork. 

24 Also rendered Donogh and Donough. 

25 A Charles MacCarthy appears in the "Inrolments of the Decrees of 
Innocents" under the Com.nonwealth rule in Ireland. There were several 
MacCarthys in the Irish parliament of James II. They included Mac- 
Carthy, (Earl Clancarty,) and MacCarthy, (Viscount Mountcashel,) in the 
Lords; and Charles, Justin, Florence, Owen and Daniel Fion MacCarthy 



A RHODE ISLAND PIONEER. 11 

one to whom he refers in his will as having written from Kinsale. 
Did we have access to that letter which Charles of Rhode Island 
received the desired knowledge would, no doubt, be obtained. But 
at this distance of time, all efforts to locate the letter have failed. 

It seems reasonable to conclude that the brother of the Rhode 
Island pioneer was a man of some prominence — possibly of much 
prominence. It has been suggested that he was Donoch, Earl Clan- 
carty, just mentioned, but this could hardly have been so, as the 
Earl died in 1665 and Charles of Rhode Island, when he made his 
will in 1682, speaks of his brother as still living. 

There was another Donoch MacCarthy, descendant of the 
first named, who was privately married when but sixteen years of 
age to Lady Elizabeth Spencer, daughter of Robert Spencer, Earl 
of Sunderland. It may be recalled, purely as a coincidence, that 
Charles MacCarthy of East Greenwich, R. I., was an intimate friend 
of the Spencers of that town and made one of them his heir. On the 
arrival of James II. in Ireland (1688), this second Donoch Mac- 
Carthy was one of the Irish officers who received him at Kinsale. 
At the fall of Cork in 1690, MacCarthy was captured and imprisoned 
in the Tower of London. He had succeeded to the title of Earl 
Clancarty and was a man of immense estate, his resources being 
equivalent at this day, it is stated, to £200,000 per annum. All this 
was forfeited owing to his adhesion to the cause of James II. In 
1694, he escaped from the Tower and fied to France. Upon rashly 
going back to England, in 1698, he was rearrested and exiled. 
He died in 1704 at a locality in Hamburg. If Charles MacCarthy 
of Rhode Island was "forced from home" at the same time as his 
brother, it would be interesting to know why one went to Spain 
and the other to the island of St. Christopher. The whole matter, 
however, is wrapped in mystery. Charles tells us that his brother 
"returned from Spaine," which statement reminds us of a prominent 
fact. King Charles II. in a famous declaration mentions a large 
number of of Irish "restorees," who were to be given back their 
former estates in Ireland for having "Continued with Us or served 
faithfully under Our ensigns beyond the Seas. "(26) Among these 
Irish restorees is mentioned Col. Charles M^acCarthy of Kilbretan, 

in the Commons. Many of the MacCarthys, described as "Papists," were 
included in the list of "Forfeiting Proprietors'/ under the Cromwellian 
regime in Ireland. 

26 This Declaration was issued by the Kii.g, Nov. 30, 1660. The 
restorees were to be in possession of their estates by May 2, 1661. 



12 A RMODK ISLAND I'lOXKER. 

county Cork, and Capt. Charles MacCarthy, also of Cork. In 
another place Charles II. mentions Charles James MacCarthy, \'is- 
count Mviskerry. 

A fourth Charles MacCarthy is mentioned during the Cronnvel- 
lian settlement as a "Papist," whose property was to be confiscated. 
These four Charles MacCarthys were all Irish officers or leading- 
gentlemen, and I am inclined to tliink the Rhode Island settler 
was one of thorn. 

Yet another point : Charles of Rhode Island tells us that his 
brother, who was again in Ireland, had written from Kinsale asking 
him to return. Why? May it not be that Charles and his 
brother were both "restorees," as defined in the King's Declaration 
above mentioned? 

At what period Charles MacCarthy left Ireland and located in 
St. Christopher, or St. Kitts, is problematical. If we knew the time 
of his coming to New England we might be able to approximate 
the St. Kitts date. It is assumed, however, that he was in St. Kitts 
as early as 1650. In an old French atla$ by Sanson, published that 
year, Montserrat is described as having been settled by Irish. Rev. 
Andrew White, S. J., who accompanied the first colonists to Mary- 
land, in 1634, makes a like statement. He adds that these Irish 
Catholics had gone first to Virginia, but being refused permission 
to land had taken possession of Montserrat. Large numbers of 
Irish are heard from in St. Kitts in 1650. They were visited by 
Father John Destriche, also written De Stritch,(27), disguised as a 



27 He is believed to have been a Limerick priest named Hartegan who 
assumed the above name in order to attract less attention from hostile 
sources in endeavoring to minister to his flock. In the Cromwellian era 
scores of Irish priests were seized in Ireland and shipped, per force, to 
the West Indies where, doubtless, they were cruelly treated. 

In 1638-40, and^ soon after, hosts of Irish settled in the West Indies. 
As early as the first named year several Irish names appear in Barbadoes, 
borne by men each owning at least ten acres of land there. But even in 
the West Indies, the curse of English persecution followed them. An 
Irish writer of the period jays that the enemy "seeing that the Irish were 
prospering in the Island of St. Kitts, seized in one night and bound with 
chains three hundred of the principal of them, and carried them off to a 
desert island, that they might perish there of cold and hunger. This was, 
alas! too sadly realized in all except two, who, through despair, cast them- 
selves into the sea, resolved to risk their lives on the waves rather than 
on the barren rocks. One of them soon perished, the other reached the 
mainland, bearing the sad news of the dreadful fate of his companions." 

About 1640, a party of refugees from the West Indies landed at what 
is now New Haven, Cti., where they soon after dispersed "and some 



A RHODE ISLAND PIONEER. 38 

trader to protect him from persecution, or even death, at the hands 
of the EngHsh officials who had no love for an Irish priest of the 
Church of Rome. 

In time he collected on that and the neighboring islands a 
flock of 3,000 (28) Catholics for whom he conducted religious ser- 
vices in the depths of the forest. Persecution at the hands of the 
English, -however, soon broke up this condition of afifairs and dis- 
persed the Irish to New England and other parts along the coast. 
Were these the "troubles in Cristifars" that obliged Charles Mac- 
Carthy to leave that place? It is quite possible. Be that as it may, 
his coming was of benefit to Rhode Island, it being at a time when 
stout hearts, strong arms and vigorous characters were especially 
desired in the colony. 

Since Charles MacCarthy's day, the old clan has been well rep- 
resented in Rhode Island. Hundreds of MacCarthys have 
settled, or been born, in the state and have splendidly contributed 
to its upbuilding. A John McCarthy served in Col. Elliott's regi- 
ment which was raised, early in the Revolution, in accordance with 
a recommendation of the "Committee of the New England States" 
for the defense of Rhode Island. An Ensign, De Maccarty, came 
with our French allies to Newport, R. I., during the Revolution 
and was attached to the hne-of-battleship Le Conquerant, a 74. 
He was, no doubt, a scion of the Irish MacCarthys who had settled 
in France. Col. Justus I. McCarty organized and commanded the 
Fourth Rhode Island regiment in 1861. He was an experienced 
soldier. Patrick J. McCarthy, a native of Ireland, has been a well- 
known lawyer in Providence, R. I., for many years past. He was 
at one time a member of the General Assembly of Rhode Island, 
the same legislative body, it will be noted, that over 200 years ago 



returned to Ireland." (See Felt's Ecclesiastical History of New England, 
Boston, 1855); Edward Larkin, a Rhode Island settler, is heard from at 
Newport as early as 1655. His name appears in the "Roule of ye Free- 
men of ye colonic of everie Towne." Larkin, or O'Larkin, is a well-known 
Irish name. The Clan's territory in Ireland was known as "the O'Larkins 
Country." 

28 During the Cromwellian era many thousaiids of Irish were swept 
from the Old Land, "the design being the utterl extirpation of the Irish 
nation." Condon declares, (The Irish Race in A|lierica), that the number 
of Irish transported from their native land tof the British colonies in 
America, from 1651 to 1660, exceeded the total nu(-nber of the latter's inhab- 
itants at that period, "a fact which ought not tolbe lost sight of by those 
who undertake to estimate the strength of the Celtic [Irish] element in 
this nation." \ 



14 A RHODE ISLAND PIONEER. 

mentioned Charles MacCarthy as one of the incorporators of East 
Greenwich. 

Since writing the foregoing, I have received the following val- 
uable communication from Mr. Lyman P. Spencer, who is descended 
from the Spensers of East Greenwich, R. I., mentioned by Charles 
MacCarthy. It will be noted that Mr. Spencer uses the form 
"Macarty." The change from Spenser to Spencer in his own family 
name will also be marked. 

Brooklyn, N. Y., Sept. 9, 1901. 
Mr. Thos. Hamilton Murray, Boston, Mass. 

Dear Sir: — I am in receipt of your letter of the 7th, making 
inquiries about Charles Macarty of East Greenwich, R. I., 1677-82. 

Mr. Arnold published, in the Narragansett Historical Register, 
the entire will of Mr. Macarty as given in the East Greenwich town 
records. I sent it to him as being the oldest will on those records, 
but did not, I think, make much, if any, comment upon it. 

Mr. John Spenser, to whose family Macarty left much of his 
estate, was the town clerk, and copied the will upon the records. 
As the executor he would have retained the will ; but I have never 
been able to learn that a single scrap of Mr. Spenser's papers has 
been preserved. * * * The records show that he [Macarty] 
was one of the original grantees of the East Greenwich tract ; that 
he drew town lot, (ten acres), No. 22, in first division, and farm 
No. 20, in first division, (90 acres). 

The laying out of his farm is given on the records and I have 
a copy of it which, since getting your letter I have tried, without 
success, to lay my hands on. I may find it later and will send a 
copy, in that case, if you desire. John Spenser, Jr., to whom Mr. 
Macarty gave his farm, I think made it his homestead. If I located 
it correctly, it is situated about in the southeasterly angle made by 
the crossing of the Mascochaug Creek with the road crossing that 
creek at Payne's Mills, and Mr. Macarty would have been a near 
neighbor of the Spensers. [Mr. Spencer has since written that it 
was Charles' ten-acre lot that was thus situated and not his farm 
of 90 acres.] 

I rather infer from the will that Mr. Macarty was from Kinsale, 
Ireland, and that in the course of his wanderings he had passed 
some time in St. Christophers, West Indies. It may be that he and 
John Spenser, Sr., were related, or had been comrades in arms, or 
in adventure, in the West Indies ; or there may have been a kinship 



A RHODE ISLAND PIONEER. 15 

tlirough Mrs. Spenser, who is, however, said to liave been a 
Griffiin. 

There is a tradition amongst some of the Spencers that their 
ancestors came from England, (one tradition says from Scotland), 
by way of Ireland, and Charles Macarty's will could, no doubt, be 
cited as a pointer in that direction. 

If you could go to Greenwich and examine the records, which 
are well preserved, you could gather, I think, quite a little collection 
of items along the line of your inquiry. Mr. Spenser's writing, ia 
which those first years are recorded, is somewhat difficult to decipher 
— to most people — and it might require a day or so of study to 
enable you to get hold of it, so as to make out what he says. 

Should you find evidence of relationship between Mr. Macarty 
and the Spencers, I should be glad to know. * * * 

Yours very truly, 
Lyman P. Spencer. 

Note: — -The Spencer name is found in Ireland for many generations, 
and appears under both spellings. Bearers of the name were among the 
"Forfeiting Proprietors" and other Irish who, during the Cromwellian 
regime, were ordered to migrate "To Hell or Connaught." 

Edmund Spenser, the poet, who resided in Ireland for a period, is 
generally believed to have married an Irish woman. His grandson William 
was, in Cromwell's time, ordered to transplant himself into Connaught as 
an Irishman, and his estates were declared forfeited. He appealed to 
Cromwell to use his influence to have the edict set aside, citing the services 
of his grandfather, the poet. Some authorities assert that Cromwell inter- 
ceded successfully; others, that he failed. 

Great numbers of descendants of English settlers in Ireland became 
thoroughly Irish, many dropped their English surnames and assumed Irish 
ones, wedded Irish wives, were rated as "Papists," and dressed "after ys 
Irishe fashion." In "A List of Papist Proprietors" in Ireland, at the 
period of Cromwell's operations, we find such names as: Chamberlain, 
Chapman, Clarke, Ellis, Eustace, Field, Foster, Grant, Gould, Haile, 
Hamlin, Hol-den, Hood, Humphrey, Kent, Preston, Russell, Talbot, Usher, 
Warren, and Weston. Some of these Irish were, no doubt, at least 
paternally, of English ancestry but, in some cases, several generations 
removed. The foregoing are also marked as "Forfeiting Proprietors." 

Four Spencers are mentioned among the "^orty-Nine" officers who 
served the cause of Charles I, or Charles II, in j^eland. It is quite pos- 
sible that John Spenser, the Rhode Island settljtr, and intimate friend m' 
Charles MacCarthy, was an Irish officer who, liike many other chivalrous 
spirits of his time, was obliged by the fortunes of war to leave Ireland 
and reside in other parts. V T. H. M. 




•^ 



I 



ERRATA —In footnote on page J, where reference 
is made to CuUen's Story of the Irish in Boston, the 
date of pubUcation should be J889 instead of J899. 
Page 6, the word designate, in the 26th line, should 
read designates. Page J5, second line, the name 
Griffiin should be Griffin. 



